The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-04-13
GONE TO THE BOTTOM.
Loss of a Sealing Steamer With
All on Board.
St. Johns, N. F., Mourning the
Death Of Nearly 800 Men.

The report of the loss of the st. Johns IN
F. sealing steamer Eagle with all on board is
confirmed. The calamity is the most appall.
ing that tever bcfell the province of Newfound-
land. Of $50 men on board not one survives
TO tell the story of the disaster. More than one
thousand widows and children IN st. Johns
and vicinity, most Of them in poverty, are
mourning the loss of husbands or fathers. The
lost vessel was last seen by the steamer Auro-
III on the night of the l7th ult.. near Franks
Island, in Bucna Vista Bay, which is about
ltD miles northwest OF st. Johns. A heavy
sea was running at the time. The next morn
ing the Aurora could find no trace of the
Eagle.
4 message has arrived from Grecnpond, on
the bay. saying that Lighthouse Keeper Cabot
boarded the sealing steamers Vanguard and
Hector Off that place few days later Both
those vessels reported passing spars, the fore
castle aud ether wrcGkage. including tho
nameboard of the Eagle. near the spot where
she was last seen. Lighthouse Keeper Cabot
is q thoroughly trustworthy man, and his
opinion that the Eagle has gone down with all
on board is almost conclusive, aside from the
evidence from other sourccs. The other
steamers Of the fleet arc spoken and reported
every few days, and all have been heard from
since the 1lth, except the Eagle. No one at
st. Johns any longer doubts that all On board
have perished.
Regarding the circumstances of the
disaster there are two theories about equally
tenahle, One is that tho boilers exploded, in
which event all on board would havererished
ut once in the raging sea. The other is
that the vessel in some way got into the
breakers, which would have made
death to all no less certain. The sea
that night is described by the men on the
other vessels of the fleet as the most terrible
that ever ragged, even upon this savage coast.
No ship once caught i'll tic awful breakers
could possibly escape, and no small boat could
land man alive on the rocky, PERCEPTIONS
coast. Anything that could float, large or
small. would have been ground to pieces Oh
the wild rocks.
The Eagle carried Il crew of fifty mcn and
about 22O scalers Their exact number is not
known. All the sealing steamers carry large
number of Men. The nature of the work
makes it necessary. The seals are generally
found upon the ice in large numbers OF colonies
The men get as close as possible to them, and
then, armed with clubs, rush III among them
and knock over as many as possible before
they have time to escape to the water. The
more men there are the more seals are
caught.
Capt. Jackmin, commander OF the Eagle,
was recognized rs the hravest skipper
of the colony. Until 1885 ne was king
of the sealing fleet. In that season, for
the first time in his experience, he
failed to secure any seals. Last year
ill luck again attended him and he lost the
steamer Rcsoiute hear the same fatal Franks
Island, but his crew escaped. Later, the same
season, he took command Of the Eagle, and
within few weeks she broke her shaft. She
was refftted and month ago she started on
her last voyage. Nearly all the men on board
were married and were in the prime of life.
The calamity falls with still more crushing
force by reason Of the Impoverished condition
of the colony. Nearly oil the newly-made
widows and orphans are without means of
support, and distress among them will be
great.